TEXAS TECH FACES TRADITIONAL RIVAL TEXAS A&M
The fifth-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders make their bi-annual pilgrimage to College Station to face rival Texas A&M on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Red Raiders received a scare in their last game, pulling out a 37-31 overtime win against Nebraska in Lubbock last Saturday. The win propelled Tech's record to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in Big 12 Conference play. The Red Raiders find themselves tied atop the Big 12 South standings with Oklahoma State and Texas. The Aggies are 2-4 this season and 0-2 in league play following Saturday's 44-30 loss at home to Kansas State.
SATURDAY'S ON NATIONAL TELEVISION
FSN is becoming the home to Texas Tech Football. The network's coverage of this weekend's game is the third for the Red Raiders on FSN (SMU, Nebraska). Bill Land (play-by-play), Dave Lapham (analyst) and Jim Knox (sideline) are the talent for the game, which kicks off at 11 a.m.
TEXAS TECH-TEXAS A&M SERIES
Texas Tech has won 10 of the last 13 meetings with Texas A&M, closing the gap on the Aggies' series lead 34-31-1. The Red Raiders pulled out a 31-27 win in College Station in the closing seconds in 2006 and won the 2005 and 2007 meetings in Lubbock. Texas A&M's last win was a 32-25 overtime victory at Kyle Field in 2004. Texas Tech Head Coach Mike Leach is 6-2 against the Aggies with losses coming in 2000 and 2004.
PREVIEWING TEXAS A&M
Texas A&M enters the game averaging 24.0 points per game offensively, but is yielding 33.0 points, which tanks at the bottom of the Big 12 rankings. The Aggies have wins over New Mexico and Army and losses have come to Arkansas State, Miami, Oklahoma State and Kansas State. Offensively, Texas A&M is getting 230.5 yards per game through the air and has thrown 12 touchdown passes compared to 125.7 yards on the ground and six rushing scores. RB Mike Goodson leads the ground game with 61.3 yards per game and four of the team's six rushing scores. Jerrod Johnson took over quarterbacking duties for an injured Stephen McGee and is 10th in the Big 12 with 181.5 passing yards per game and 11 touchdown passes. Johnson also is averaging 203.0 yards of total offense per game. Ryan Tannehill is the leading receiver with 80.2 yards per game and has three scoring receptions on the season. Matt Featherston has 50 tackles on the season, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble to lead the defense. Von Miller leads with 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, while three players have an interception each.
TEXAS TECH MATCHES HIGHEST RANKING
Texas Tech enters the week ranked fifth in the USA Today Coaches Poll, matching the highest ranking in any poll in school history. The ranking is the highest for the Red Raiders since sitting at No. 5 three-straight weeks during the 1976 season. The Red Raiders stayed put at No. 7 in the Associated Press poll. The USA Today Coaches Poll is factored into the BCS standings.
Texas Tech is currently in a five-year streak of being ranked in the AP poll, the longest streak in school history.
TEXAS TECH QUICK NOTES
Texas Tech's 6-0 start is the best for the program since 2005 ... in the 84-year history of the program, Texas Tech has been 6-0 only five times.
Texas Tech is sixth nationally with 11-straight non-conference wins, including bowl games ... the Red Raiders last lost a non-conference game at TCU (12-3) in 2006.
Texas Tech's top 10 rankings each of the last four weeks in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls are the first time since the 1976 season that Tech has been ranked among the top 10 in as many weeks ... it also is only the third since the installation of the coaches poll in 1989 that Texas Tech has been ranked among the 10 in both.
Texas Tech is 9-4 all-time in Big 12 Conference openers, including its 58-28 win at Kansas State on Oct. 4 ... last year's league-opening loss at Oklahoma State snapped a string of five-straight conference-opening game wins.
Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, Texas Tech is 20-18 in games against the conference's North division ... the Red Raiders are 15-11 in head coach Mike Leach's nine seasons, but have won 12 of the last 17 ... had perfect seasons against the North in 2004 and 2005.
Texas Tech has three-straight wins over Nebraska, dating back to the 2004 season.
Red Raiders may turn into "Road Warriors" after the month of October is complete ... Tech plays at home only once (Oct. 11 vs. Nebraska) during the month ... games at Kansas State (Oct. 4), Texas A&M (Oct. 18) and Kansas (Oct. 25) make up three-quarters of the month's slate.
Texas Tech boasts a 30-5 record at Jones AT&T Stadium since the start of the 2003 season ... Tech's .857 success rate is tied 11th during the span with Georgia and Florida and is third in the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas.
The Red Raiders have scored 30 or more points in 22 of the last 24 games, including the last ten straight, which leads the country ... Texas, with nine-straight 30-point games, is second among the national leaders in consecutive 30-point games.
Since Mike Leach's arrival in 2000, the Red Raiders boast a 19-1 non-conference record at Jones AT&T Stadium ... overall, Texas Tech is 32-8 in non-conference matchups, including five bowl wins ... the program is 7-4 on the road and 6-3 at neutral sites.
Texas Tech has the Big 12 Conference's longest winning streak at eight games, dating back to last season.
Texas Tech ranks fifth nationally with 13-straight winning seasons. Florida State leads with 30, while Michigan (22), Florida (19), Virginia Tech (14) and Tech comprise the top five ... a win at Texas A&M this weekend will guarantee the program's 14th-straight winning season.
Texas Tech has scored 30 or more points in 72 games during the Leach era and has won 61 of those games. The Red Raiders are 30-5 under Leach when scoring 40+ and 21-0 when scoring over 50. On the flip side, Tech is 10-26 when scoring 29 points or less.
Texas Tech quarterbacks have thrown for 41,835 yards during the Mike Leach tenure - or 23.8 miles. The offense has also accounted for 329 passing scores since 2000 as compared to the 232 thrown the previous 20 seasons.
Texas Tech ranks third among Big 12 members with consecutive eight-win seasons. Texas leads the group with nine, while Oklahoma has done it in the last seven seasons. Texas Tech has recorded at least eight wins each of the last six seasons.
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